A Magistrate’s Court in Akure, Ondo State, has sentenced two men, Kehinde Ojo and Abiodun Falade, to two years’ imprisonment for forging the signature of a dead man and forcibly entering a cocoa farmland.

The duo committed the offences between February 18, 2009, and May 5, 2009, in different parts of the state capital.

They forged the signature of one late Pa Dare Esho and forcibly entered the cocoa farmland of one Rebecca Oluwadare at Pelu community and harvested cocoa beans.

The police prosecutor, Suleiman Abdullateef, told the court that the convicts conspired to commit felony, to wit forgery and forcible entry.

The offences are contrary to and punishable under sections 516, 465, 467, 81, 82 and 349(D) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 37, Vol.1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria, 2006.

The convict’s lawyers, Sanmi Owoeye and Kunle Akinlabi, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.

After the arguments from the prosecution and the defence counsel, the magistrate, Tope Aladejana, found the duo guilty of the offences and sentenced them to two years’ imprisonment each without an option of a fine.